The Dragon Restaurant @ Depot Road

Restaurant Name: The Dragon Restaurant
Place: Depot Road (off Alexandra Road)
Address: Blk 108 Depot Road, Depot Heights Shopping Centre
Speciality: Chinese Food
(updated with photos)

Recommended highly by hungrygowhere, I decided to give this restaurant a try with my family.

Ambience is that of Chinese Restaurant. Not much crowd even on weekend, so it is a good place to go if you want to have a good dinner and avoid the crowd.

Whatever you order, the food is all above average standard. We order salted egg prawns, roast chicken, Mamic pork chop, vegetable, all served within good timing and taste real good. One of the better Chinese restaurants I have visited.

I was told by the manager (or was she the boss) that apart from the chines food, their HK Dim Sum is famous and whatmore, she reveals that there is a 20% discount if you visit them from 9 -11am on Sunday and PH.

Comments: The food is fantastic but dont expect a lower price because it is located in these neighbourhood shopping centre. A table of 5 cost $140+ after the ++ which is rather standard Chinese restaurant price if you go to more famous Chinese restaurant. However, i can assure you that the food that they served is just as good if not better than the other Chinese Restautant.

Rating:
4.5/5. It is that good.

Photos:
Sorry, was too engrossed in talking and eating and forget to take photos. However, I suddenly remembered and got this one:



More photos here:


Prawn balls with orange sauce (or something to the effect) is one of the best that I tired. Prawns are cripsy on the outside and crunchy on the inside.


Pork ribs is tasty and juicy.


It is called something duck. Cant remember.
Sauce and texture of the duck is not bad.


Hot Plate beancurd - Just average.

New Coke Old Coke

Ever notice that your coke on the table has changed from a slightly more colourful logo to a simple logo? This is a comparsion of the box between the old (ironically the colourful logo) and the new (the surprising plain and colourless logo).



Top Row - Old Design
Bottom Row - New Design

So the next time you want to buy a coke from supermaket, don't think that the colourful design is the new stock, for it is actually the old one.

Sore throat? No fear...

it is Chinese New year period with all those food like fried stuffs and bak kwa that you've been eating, it is easy to be 'overheated'. Getting heaty is quite common and sore throat usually follows shortly.

While heatiness can be cooled down quite easily with herbal tea (liang teh), sore throat is not that simple. A persistence sore throat makes the eating difficult, sometimes to the extent of swallowing saliva.

One solution is to have a good lozenges but a good one is not easy to find.

This brand is quite effective through.

The French (Kopitiam) Stall

Name: The French Stall
Place: Serangoon Road (Opposite Shell Station)
Address: Corner of Sturdee Road North.

Before I start, let me warn you this is NOT a REVIEW. I refuse to do a review. So if you are looking for a review of this eatery, please go somewhere else.

Okay, if you are still reading on, reasons why I refuse to do a review are as below:

1) Service
2) Service
3) Service
3) Ambience vs Price
4) Quality of food

1) Service
First thing we reach there, we were greeted by this sign - '...you can be seated only if all are present' (or something to the effect). Well, do they have so many people who told them that they have more than the actual number who actually turned up? What's wrong with letting people sit down first? In the end, we sat at the entrance to wait for all to be present.

2) Service
7 of us in the group and 5 is present. We tried to talk to them and finally they let us sit down first, bending their rule slightly. Great service? Fat Hope. As 2 friends is very late, after sitting down for abour 15 mins and all 5 of us have placed our order, the 'friendly' waitress come and tell us this:

"Is your friends coming, if not, sorry, you have to give up this table and shift to a smaller table." KNN. Service at its best.

Again we have to try to talk to her pleading for 5 minutes grace. Fortunately, the 2 late-comers arrived before the grace expired.

3) Service
Any place you can find where you need to pay service charge and GST in Kopitiam? And for such service, I think I will be happier to pay service charge to the grumpy Tze cha stall aunty below my block. At least she doesn't chase you away from the table you have been allocated.


4) Ambience vs Price
At a corner of the road, no aircon throughout the whole stall, one can easily mistake it as a Tze Cha stall from far if one did not see the big but plain sign board of the name of the 'high-class restaurant'.

Well high class because price range from $15 - $25 for their main course. Well, this is French Cuisine so it cannot be considered as expensive but paying the price to ask us to dine beside the road is simply atrocious, at least all of us in the group.

5) Quality
Seriously nothing fantastic. If you want to eat French, go to La Petite Cuisine @ Serene Centre. At least the chef comes out when he is free to ask you how is the food.

Aston Prime / Aston Specialities / Aston Express

Name: Aston Prime / Aston Specialities / Aston Express
Place:
Auston Prime @ Joo Chiat
Auston Speciality @ East Coast / Cathay / Sports Club / Sembawang SC
Auston Express at Various Location
(Exact Location please refer to www.astons.com.sg)

I tried the outlet at Sembawang shopping centre. It was a new outlet and despite me hearing of Aston name, I have not tried it before. So that was my chance.

I ordered one Hickory BBQ Chicken, one pork chops and a Dinner Burger. Portion is generous and food is good. Comes with 2 side for the Chicken and the pork and one side for the burger.

My comment: Pork is just average while the chicken and the burger is good. For the chicken, I would not use the word fantastic but I would say that it is one of the better one that I have tried. And for $6.50, it is a steal.

The dinner burger is actually a bigger portion of the rest of the (cheaper) burger you see on the menu but they let you add one side. It is like buying a chicken burger and add one side. Works out to be cheaper if you have the dinner burger because you get a bigger burger and pay slightly less for the side.

As for the size of the burger, think of Carl's Junior Chicken Club. Something to the size or I would say that this is slightly bigger.

Although it seems to be like a restarant, there is
NO SERVICE CHARGE AND GOVERNMENT TAX!!!
(at least for the Sembawang Store)

So just add up the total of what you order and that's it.

And although there is no service charge, service there is fantastic. Quote this incident when I was in a queue (i need a table for 2) and there was a family of 5 that was behind me. When I was the first one in the queue, it happened that there was a big table (seats 6) that was ready. Naturally, I would not want 2 of us to hog the table for 6 and I would expect them to usher the family there before me.

They did, but before they do, they apologised to me (which I think it is not necessary) for letting me wait and they told me that they have a table for 2 that was empty but not ready. They told me to wait for another 2-3 mins and would let in me as soon as they have finished clearing the table. After doing so, then they ushered the family over.

I think that they have taken an extra step to ensure the service standards is there and I think I will be happy to pay for service charge in this case.

Menu:


More photos to be uploaded.

Ikea Cafe / Restaurant

NAME: Ikea
PLACE: Alexandra / Tampines

If you are looking for quality food at a bargain price, Ikea Restaurant will be one place that I will recommend you. Notice that I didnt use the word 'cheap' because comparatively it is not really cheap but you do get quality and aircon comfort.

Must try: Everything on the menu from poached salmon to nasi padang (less those side dish which you take out from the fridge.

Really must try: Swedish meatball for it uniqueness, chicken wing for its favour and nuggets.

Funny thing is that where isn't there a Halal section in Ikea Alexandra?

Ishi Mura @ Northpoint Extension

Name: ISHI MURA Japanese Theme-food Court
Place: Northpoint New Extension Level 3

Fresh and new concept of Japanese Theme Food court by the people who came out with this concept. In the food court, you find a variety of Japanese food range from Bento set to Ramen to Pizza to heated Stone Bowl Don to Japanese Burgers.

Price hovers at around $4.90 - $6.90, which most dish at $5.90. Reasonally cheap for Japanese food.

Heard that they are opening another similar outlet at Paradize centre, so if Yishun is too far, there could be another alternative soon.

Photos: